Romney lies about Chrysler, GM – gets kneecapped in return

When the presidential candidates are calling each otherÂ liarsÂ or something closeÂ to that, that’s hardlyÂ newÂ – but a major American corporation all but calling a presidential candidate a liar, when did that happen before?Â Never mind happening twice. In one week. Â Romney lies is their clear message.

WidespreadÂ coverageÂ of the story of the Chrysler Corporation’s flat contradiction of Mitt Romney’s campaign assertions, followed by General Motors doing the same, suggests that such sharp corporate responses are unprecedented. Certainly the relationship of these corporations to the Republican Party are far removed from the time when one of President Eisenhower’s cabinet members saidÂ that “for years I thought what was good for the country was good for General Motors and vice versa” (although the urban legend version has him saying “what’s good for General Motors is good for America”).

The catalyst for these sharp corporate reactions came on October 25, in Defiance, Ohio, when Mitt RomneyÂ told a campaign rally:Â “I saw a story today that one of the great manufacturers in this state, Jeep, now owned by the Italians, is thinking ofÂ moving all production to China.” Â [emphasis added]

Romney’s Comment Was Not True

That was not true. The Bloomberg storyÂ stated:Â “Chrysler currently builds all Jeep SUV models atÂ plantsÂ in Michigan, Illinois and Ohio. [Chrysler] referred toÂ adding Jeep production sites rather than shifting output fromÂ North AmericaÂ to China.”Â [emphasis added]

Chrysler executive GualbertoÂ RanieriÂ responded promptly to Romney campaign comment with a blog statementÂ that usedÂ italics for emphasis:Â “Let’s set the record straight: Â Jeep has no intention of shifting productionÂ of its Jeep models out of North America to China”¦. A careful and unbiased reading of the Bloomberg take would have saved unnecessary fantasies and extravagant comments.”

Ranieri called Romney’s conclusion “a leap that would be difficult even for professional circus acrobats.”Â Romney neither responded not retracted the comment.

On October 28, the Romney campaign came out with aÂ television adÂ that kept pushingÂ the story, with more carefullycrafted language, but continuedÂ controversy. Â FiredoglakeÂ reported that the ad is “Â so false that, as you can see by the title of the video, it’s posted on youtube by people opposed to Romney.”

Chrysler’s CEO Objected At Length

Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne went public on October 30Â in a lengthyÂ emailÂ that began:Â “Chrysler Group’s production plans for the Jeep brand have become the focus of public debate. I feel obliged to unambiguously restate our position:Â Jeep production will not be moved from the United States to China”¦.”Â [emphasis added]

After mentioning specifics of Chrysler’s production infrastructure, Marchionne concluded his email by saying:Â “Jeep assembly lines will remain in operation in the United States and will constitute the backbone of the brand. Â It is inaccurate to suggest anything different”¦.”Â [emphasis added]

Romney and his campaign have declined to discuss the Jeep statement on the record, despite repeatedÂ questionsfrom reporters. RomneyÂ continuedÂ making variations of his initial claim in stump speeches, and his campaign issued aÂ radio adÂ that went further, and claimed General Motors (GM) was also shipping jobs to China:Â “Under President Obama, GM cut 15,000 American jobs, but they are planning to double the number of cars built in China, which means 15,000 more jobs for China. Â And now comes word that Chrysler plans to start making Jeeps in, you guessed it, China.”

“The ad is cynical campaign politics at its worst,” said General Motors spokesman Greg Martin:Â “We think creating jobs in the U.S. andÂ repatriating profits back in this country should be a source of bipartisan pride.” [emphasis added]

GM said: “Campaign Politics at its Cynical Worst”

GM spokesman MartinÂ also said: “We’ve clearly entered some parallel universe during these last few days. No amount of campaign politics at its cynical worst will diminish our record of creating jobs in the U.S. and repatriating profits back to this country.”

By October 31, the DenverÂ PostÂ joined otherÂ newspapersÂ around the country, including the ToledoÂ Blade, the ClevelandÂ Leader, the Youngstown VindicatorÂ and two Detroit papers criticizing Romney for “falsehoods and half-truths” (Denver), “blatant lies” (Cleveland), and “[making] things up out of whole cloth” (Youngstown). Â FactCheck.orgcalled Romney “flat wrong” in his original comment on Jeep going to China, while the National Legal and PolicyCenterÂ (NLPC — which “promotes ethics in public life”)Â arguedÂ that Romney was right and the media are biased.

Although NLPC quotes an ambiguous section from the original Bloomberg story to bolster its argument, it goes on to omit the Bloomberg clarification later in the same story about “adding Jeep production sites rather than shifting output fromÂ North AmericaÂ to China.”

“It’s difficult to quantify a candidate’s relationship with the facts, but The Washington Post’s fact-checker, Glenn Kessler, has calculated that, for much of the campaign, Romney and Obama were roughly even in their prevarications until the past few months. Back in May, Romney’s average “Pinocchio” rating from Kessler was 1.97 on a scale of 0 to 4. Obama was at 1.91. Now, Obama is at 2.11 and Romney is at 2.40 — putting him at the level of hogwash perpetrated during the primaries by Rick Perry (2.41) and Newt Gingrich (2.44)”¦. Romney is in a whole new category”¦. When is comes to truth, Romney still lives in Defiance.” Â Â

Remember Billy Martin, who managed the NY Yankees more than once, with newsworthy antics as a result? NY fans loved him no matter what he did. Our politics is becoming more like that – root for your team, right or wrong (and there’s precious little right and plenty of wrong to go around). Where I grew up, no BoSox fan would ever dis their team, no matter how badly they happened to be playing that season. Doesn’t that sound like today’s Dem/GOP supporters?

Democrats comprise only 47% of registered voters and, according to Gallup, 35% of likely voters. He needs more than Dems to win.

Rasmussen, NBC, and Politico all show Obama polling at 48% today – tied or slightly behind Romney.. But Obama leads in battleground states – wouldn’t it be ironic if he lost the popular vote but won the EC!